Female Canvasback

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks to Paul Lagasi for the I.D. help on this one. It's the first time I've seen one around my part of the Midwest and really got excited when she hung around for photos this morning. I started out complaining that the light was so horrible and overcast but when I realized that the water was the perfect shade to compliment the duck I quickly changed my tune!

Canon 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6L
f9 @ 1/320th, ISO 400
Manual mode, pattern metering, handheld, overcast
Processed in ACR & CS4; small crop, slight levels and curves adjustments.

[Sid Garige]

Like the comp and excellent eye contact. Ripples in the water are little over powering for me.

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Julie, I like the bird. I think you did a good job with your exposure on the bird as There appears to be good detail in the white feathers and on the dark bill. I agree with Sid on the light ripples. Perhaps toning them down a little would help. For my taste the placement of the bird is too far in the corner. Thanks for sharing.

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks guys...I'll go back and tone it down a bit and move that bird further in.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Julie,

Nice catch! Wonderful duck and indeed perfectly matching colors. To solve part of the ripple problem, try a panorama cropping, I think it will help. Next time, try to get the lowest angle you can get and use wider aperture.
Kind regards,

Jerry.

[Julie Kenward]

Coming from the macro forum, I do believe, Jerry, that you are the first person that has ever told me to "widen my aperture!" :D

I do have another image of this duck with a pano crop...I'll go dig it out and soften the BG and see how that compares to this one.

Thanks for making me chuckle this morning!